General Policy:The Hood River Parks and Recreation District no longer requires that Park & Rec have a staff member on deck to lifeguard while we swim. As long as our CGM coaches are current in their lifeguard certification, can check the pool chemicals, and be present on deck while we swim, our team is allowed to make our own decisions regarding if we are having workout on a scheduled day.

This policy is dependent, however, on each of us being registered with Oregon Masters Swimming for insurance purposes. CGM is also still required to pull the pool covers, remove the pool vacuum, and put in any additional lane lines that we desire.

Inclement Weather: The Hood River Parks and Recreation District is no longer linking its closure procedures to school closures. If the weather is snowy, CGM’s coaches can usually get to the pool, so the workout schedule on Monday through Friday AMs will be at the usual times. Only if there are extremely risky driving conditions, a power outage at the pool, or some other unforeseen condition that makes it dangerous for the coach and/or us to travel to the pool will we cancel workout. So you can assume that usually there will be a workout.

Note that if conditions are snowy and we have a 6 AM workout, we have committed the team to shovel a three foot wide path from the curb, up the steps, and to the front door. Shovels will be available. Consider it part of your warm-up!

In Case of Extreme Weather Conditions:There may be times when even we dedicated swimmers and/or coaches decide it is too risky to attempt driving to the pool, e.g. a true freezing rain. If a decision is made by the coach to cancel workout, an e-mail will be sent out by 5:30 AM to alert you to this. Our coaches will plan to make a decision by 5:15 AM to allow for time to get this notification out. Also check our Facebook Group Page for Columbia Gorge Masters. So if you even think the conditions are severe, then check on line before you leave for the pool. If no e-mail is received by 5:30, you are pretty safe to assume there is workout. Obviously things can go wrong with e-mail, so this is not a foolproof system, but we think the number of times we would utilize this system would be very few. If you have questions, you can call the coach planning to be on deck that day.